Weather in Sri Lanka

Due to its proximity to equator Sri Lanka has typically tropical climate. Warm and Fine year round Relative Humidity varies from 70% during the day to 90% at night. Average temperatures around 27 degrees in Colombo, going down as the land rises to the hill country to as low as 10 degrees.

The Dry Zone of the island is the north and east of the island, this region is affected by the north east monsoon. It is thought to be dry because most of the rains fall during the north-east monsoon. The Wet Zone of the island constitutes of the western and central part of the island. This part gets rain from the south-westerly monsoon and experiences quite a bit of rains and for long periods.

The island has two wet seasons between May and July in the south-west and December to January in the north-east. It rains more in the hill area's then in the coast area's.

Climatically Sri Lanka has no off season. Bright sunny warm days are the rule and are common even during the wet season.

Sea temperatures as a rule remain around 27 degrees, although it is much less suitable for swimming during the monsoon period when it can that the sea is very rough and the currents strong.

The highest temperatures are usually from March to June but the mercury rarely climbs above 35 degrees. However, the humidity in these months routinely reaches 75%, and will make you feel a few degrees hotter than the recorded temperature. November to January is usually the coolest time of the year.

There is also an inter-monsoons period in October and November when rain and thunderstorms can occur in many parts of the island. The south, south-west and central highlands are much wetter than the northern and north-central regions.

The best travel time is December to April, this time you can feel comfortable with a swim in the calm sea at the Southwest Coast.